Bloody Legend: The Complete Twemlow Coll — Bloody Legend( Blu Ray/ CD set)
Bloody Legend is a nine-Blu-ray/ single CD box set from the fab folks at InterVision/ Severin. It celebrates/brings together the work of one of the UK’s unlikeliest movie moguls- Cliff Twemlow, a Mancunian bouncer/ body builder, who went on to write/ star in/produce a series of low-budget/ largely SOV films in the early 80s to early 90s- these moved between action, thriller, sci-fi, and horror. His most notable/notorious film was 1983’s G.B.H., which landed on the video nasty list, though he was connected with another ten feature films, many of which have never seen a full/proper release until now. Along with the films, we get thirteen plus hours of extras, plus a CD worth of Cliff’s music, as he was also a songwriter, oh and a pulp horror novelist too.
Before we get into the box's content, we must talk about the box- it is presented to look like a VHS. When you slip out the hard case disc booklet, on each page you get disc contents, stills/ poster art, small write-ups, short newspaper, and old VHS ads. It’s a really cool, retro 70’s/ 80’s looking present
On the first disc of the set, we have the 2023 documentary Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow. This was directed by Englishman Jake West, who since the mid-90s has helmed nearly one hundred credits- taking shorts, featurettes, documentaries, and films, such as vamp action film Razor Blade Kiss (1989), classic VHS doc Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010), and S in horror anthology The ABCs of Death (2012).
The documentary runs at just over the two-hour mark, with the pace/ flow of the whole thing kept lively and interesting throughout, telling the stranger-than-fiction story of the larger-than-life Twemlow. It moves from discussing his childhood, how he was sent away as an evacuee, and how this shaped his personality to never be pushed around, have any limits on what he can do, and always get back on it after failure.
We find out he trained himself as a child to fight off bullies, which led to him being an amateur boxer. He was a self-taught and at points fairly profitable songwriter with wide-ranging credits, which went from a track on the Dawn Of The Dead soundtrack, to the theme for popular drama Crown Court. He became a respected bouncer in Manchester, which in turn saw him pen his popular bio The Tuxedo Warrior: Tales of a Mancunian Bouncer, which got made into a film in South Africa, and started his film career.
We get to hear about the successes, like the Video Nasty list hitting action crime film G.B.H. A selection of filmed projects that moved through action, sci-fi, and crime thriller. And the failures like The Pike, the almost made creature feature based on his own pulp horror novel, which was going to star Joan Collins.
The film features interviews with his now grown-up son, his ex-wife, those who trained/ later acted in his films, C.P. Lee & Andy Willis, who wrote a book about him, and a selection of folk who either knew, worked with, or respected Cliff.
The documentary features quite rapid/ flashy graphics & text, which move smoothly from one part of his career to the next, accompanied by a great selection of archive clips from his films, news reports, and more.
Like the best/ most rewarding documentaries, Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow can be appreciated/watched by anyone, even if you have little or no interest in low-budget cult film, as Cliff was such a larger-than-life character- who managed to do so much in his lifetime.
Extras-wise, on this disc, we get a nice selection of things. Additional scenes( 57.25), Manchester Location tour (14.19), here we get to see Cliff’s old house, where he wrote and planned many of the films. We see where the editing officers were for his production. There’s a lengthy discussion/ look at where The Millionaire Club was, where he worked as a bouncer. And a few other locations, including The Zoo Club- which was the main location in G.B.H.. The Swedish Connection ( 13.13) this is with Jonathan Sisson, who is the son of one of Cliff's film investors. He shows us a rare tape of Mason's War- a TV pilot, lots of paperwork relating to the deal/ legal wranglings between Cliff & his Swedish investor. The Pike Rediscovered ( 19.35) which looks at the discovery of the huge mechanical Pike that was created for the film that never got made. It gets taken to a UK film con, to be interviewed. Manchester Premiere/ Q&A ( 46.22). London World Premiere/ Q&A (11.32). Glasgow Premiere/ Q&A (22.01). Trailer and image gallery.
On disc two, we have 1982’s Tuxedo Warrior, which is extremely loosely inspired by Cliff’s 1980s autobiography The Tuxedo Warrior: Tales of a Mancunian. The film is set in Zimbabwe, not Manchester, with a plot regarding diamond smuggling. The film is a very tonally unbalancing affair, shifting between ’80s soap drama, tough guy melodrama, slushy romance, and punchy action film. I wouldn’t say it’s a formal good film, but it’s entertaining as a so good it’s bad affair- though there is no doubt Mr Twemlow has a good screen presence, and his fights are well enough choreographed/ tense, though he only has a minor part- oddly not even mentioned acting in the credits.
The film was directed/ co-written by Oxford-born Andrew Sinclair, who was a novelist, historian, biographer, and critic. Tuxedo Warrior was his 4th and final film- his other three feature films were The Breaking of Bumbo (1970), a comedy set in the world of Brigade of Guards during the swinging sixties. Comedy drama featuring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Peter O'Toole Under Milkwood (1971), and drama/ horror Blue Blood(1974) featuring Oliver Reed.
The film runs at just over the hour and a half mark- it begins with pre-credits that move from up-high waterfall footage, onto a darting/ dizzying collage of roulette wheel spinning, roulette chip placing, and a bespeckled guy typing on an old greenscreen PC. When the credits roll, they are rather soap/sitcom-bound- as each actor stands next to their name, smiling or looking moody.
As we get into the film itself, we meet our lead Cliff (John Wyman), the blond-haired, chiselled-featured, and white Tuxedo-wearing owner of The Omega Bar, which we’re led to believe sits somewhere near the earlier seen waterfall & plains of Zimbabwe.
Cliff is somewhat of a mean and moody fellow who likes to drink and will fist-fight/throw out customers at the drop of a hat. The film regards a love triangle between himself, a permed brunette, gutsy female American photographer Sally(Holly Palance), and English woman Lisa(Carol Royle), who broke his heart in the past
Revolving around this central focus, we have some stolen diamonds, lots of frozen cash, pushy military police, and a fair few fist fights. And a fair few romantic scenes, set to the backdrop of the waterfalls/ out in the bush
Cliff Twemlow has a small cameo role- appearing first as a money-collecting goon in the pre-credits, and then later as the newly employed bouncer for The Omega Bar. He gets a few lines, but most impressive/interesting is a lengthy bar-based fight- where he ends up ripping off his shirt, getting his face bloody- and there is no doubt he has real screen presence.
The rest of the main cast is mixed in their acting talents- Wyman shifts between being rather flat, mean & moody, and emotional- he’s rather hammy doing the last. Palance is full of quips/ suggestive comments, and Royle shifts between flirty & emotional
Tuxedo Warrior shifts between the cheesy, campy, and macho-bound postering. As mentioned earlier, in no way is this a formal good film, but more in the so-bad-it ’s-great territory.
On this disc, we have only a few short extras- Gag Reel (3.07), Outtakes ( 3.57), and a trailer.
Onto disc three and we have 1983’s G.B.H., which was Cliff's most known/ notable film, due to its connection with the video nasty list. The film is a very low-budget crime drama regarding a bouncer( Twemlow), who, after getting out of the slammer, returns to his old job, with encounters with a local gangster who wants to take over all the clubs in Manchester.
We get two versions of the film on the disc- there’s the original director's cut, which runs for one hour and twenty-six minutes, and the UK VHS G.B.H release, which runs at one hour and thirteen minutes. The difference between the two is that the shorter one is a little neater- in both, it’s mix of music & dialogue, and it’s more streamlined, with a few short extra scenes to make sense- but basically, they are fairly similar.
The film was directed by David Kent-Watson. He had seven features to his name aside G.B.H., taking five other Cliff staring titles: Target Eve Island (1983), The Blind Side of God( 1987),Lethal Impact(1991), Firestar: First Contact (1991), and The Eye Of Satan(1992). Aside from these, we had Tropic Island Slasher Into Darkness (1986), and action thriller The Assassinator(1992).
So, G.B.H is centred around Steven Donvan( Cliff), who has just got out of prison after a six-month stretch. He’s been given double his original wage, a big apartment, and a Rolls-Royce to return to his job as a bouncer at The Zoo club. Looking at taking over this club, and all of the clubs in Manchester, is constant het-up gangster Keller(Jerry Harris).
The film is formally bad- the acting moves between ok and very flat, the direction and editing are very sloppy, and the music often badly mimics known songs/types of songs. But as ‘so-bad-it’s great’ is highly entertaining, and clearly Cliff and all involved are putting their all into the project.
We move from the great/ but corny macho moments- taking in stern-faced back-talking, several slowmo jogging scenes, and more than a few bloody punch-ups, featuring mouth noise sounding punches.
We get a ton of great lines- like ‘So you're Dovan, you look very tough to me?’, ‘Who did you expect, Charles Bronson?’. ‘So you’re the big hard type?’, ‘I didn’t know I was showing’. And ‘When they put teeth in your mouth, they ruined a good arse’.
There are lots of leering & low shots of the dance floor, largely focusing on the ladies. We get awkward sex scenes, which will make your toes curl. We get cheap ’n’ cheerful gunned-up chases through the woods- with motorbikes brought into the fray. And of course, the fist fights, which are bloody and largely well done, with the most extreme moment here being a broken beer glass pushed into a man's hand.
Simply put, G.B.H. is bloody great, that is, if you enjoy ‘so-bad-it’s great’ macho-focused crime films.
On the extras side, we get a new commentary track from actor Brian Sterling-Vete and cult movie historian David Flint. They begin by talking about how accurately the film depicts the Manchester club scene. Actors/ friends are pointed out, with brief details of how they were connected to Cliff. Locations are pointed out, and we find out that Cliff's many aliases were based on his love of John Wayne. They discuss the reasoning for why it was shot on video, and how awkward the cameras were. They briefly touch on real-life Manchester gang The Quilty Street gang. Later on, they talk about some of the great lines in the film. They touch on the film's music and how Cliff was self-mocking at times. It’s not a bad track, though not purely focused on the film at hand, talking about his wider filmography.
Otherwise, there’s The Pike Special (10.56), which is a TV special from when Cliff was trying to make the said film. We get some great footage of the mechanical fish itself, which apparently cost a quarter of a million dollars to make. We get short interviews with actors Joan Collins, Jack Headly, and Linda Lou Allen. And of course, an interview with Cliff. There’s Mason’s War ( 5.33), which is basically an extended TV trailer- we see a woman being attacked/ raped in woodland, and it turns out it’s a relation of Cliff- who is ex SAS, he goes on a revenge rampage- with fighting, trucks blown up, etc- with more than a few familiar faces in the short. With alternate credits sequence, teaser trailer, & trailer
Moving onto the third disc in the set, we have two films from the early 80s, both of which sit in the action set aboard bracket. There’s Target Eve Island, and The Ibiza Connection.
So first off, we have 1983’s Target Eve Island ( aka Operation Urgent Fury)- it was once again directed by David Kent-Watson. With a script/ story by Cliff. The film starts off in the UK(Manchester area, I presume), moving onto Barbados and Grenada- in the latter, the US were invading the island, so real-life military footage appears towards the end of the film.
I guess you’d call Target Eve Island a mix of secret agent thriller and action film, with the basic plot regarding a female professor being kidnapped by the Russians. The lead/ main UK agent is William Grant( Brett Sinclair), who feels like a blend of David McCallum (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) and Nigel Havers(Chariots of Fire).
The film, as already mentioned, starts off in the UK, and you’ll recognise the apartment location from G.B.H. In this part of the film, we have a neat junkyard punch-up, a dockside knife, and a few scenes of slamming desks & shouting office interactions.
As we make our way out to Barbados, we have some footage taken from an airline advert of a flight. When we touch down, we move from beside a hotel pool punch-up, sleek dating with a salmon colour dress suit, running through the sweaty street chase, and a martial arts fight on a dock of the bay
When we move to Grenda, we of course have the already mentioned real military footage- this is a fair brief, and cut in with the rest of the film's elements. Aside from this, we have a few boat racing/ vague gun flight shots, a fair bit of trudging through the jungle footage, and an on-the-beach/ in the sea punch-up.
Cast-wise, Sinclair is not too bad as our blond-haired Bond clone, with some cheesy/ tough-guy lines. Cliff has a fairly small/ not appearing until later role as Chaser- a non-speaking, straw trilby-wearing, and Cigarillo sucking tough guy- who has only a few fights. Otherwise, we have a moustached meant-to-be Russian bad guy & an eastern European brunette temptress- both of whose accents slip in & out. There’s Crazy Max(Max Beesley Snr), who I think is meant to be a take on Howling Mad Murdock from The A Team, though he’s, to be honest, he's rather naff/ annoying- as he constantly does truly awful impressions of both Humphrey Bogart and John Wayne.
Technically, the film is rather bumbling/ shabby in both the shot use, which is often through things, or not terribly clear. And the editing is very ham-fisted- jumping all over the place in a nonsensical/haven’t got to that part in the story. We get a voice-over element from Sinclair to try & tidy things up/ make sense, but this doesn’t always work.
Target Eve Island is passable enough, as low budget/ little rough around the/unintentionally amusing 80’s action fare- though it would have been nice if Cliff was given a bit more screentime.
Extras for Target Eve Island include a commentary track from Audio Commentary with actor Brian Sterling-Vete and executive producer Martin De Rooy. This starts off a little slow/ stilted, but fairly soon they get into their stride. They point out each other in the opening car chase, and Brian mentions he’s wearing one of Cliff’s old T-shirts- which he thinks was an attempt to get some sort of promotional deal. They comment on actors as they appear and mention in passing how many good actors the film has. We find out that the idea of giving the lead character the second name of Grant, was in the hope of getting sponsorship from a certain Scottish whiskey. They talk about how they flew the helicopter over a local airdrome without permission- this was quite common practice. We find out that at the time of filming, lead Brett Sinclair was rather popular on TV, and at one point during one commercial break, he appeared in three separate ads. De Rooy talks about how he first met Cliff at The Millionaire Club, and talks about how/ why he fully funded the film, which a budget of twenty-five thousand pounds. Later on, they discuss the phoney Russian accents in the film. The placement of a Captain Morgans Rum bottle in one scene, again with the hope of getting sponsorship. And the invasion that went on later in the film- we find out they had a constant security detail following them, to monitor where they were going.
Otherwise, For The Love Of Cliff(4.29) which is an outtake from the commentary, where they give their opinion about the film. We have Granada Tourism Promo (1.52), rushes( 11.05), alternative credits, and two trailers.
Next is The Ibiza Connection- it’s from the year 1984, runs at one hour & thirty-three minutes, and it was filmed solely on Ibiza. This film is a mix of drama and action, with the latter increasing as things go along.
The film was the one and only feature-length film of Manchester-born Howard Arundel. He’s most known for his second unit/assistant director credits- between the mid-eighties and present day, he has forty-four credits to his name- these went between quirky comedy High Hopes (1985), comedy drama Bhaji on the Beach (1993), which regards a group of English women of Indian descent going to Blackpool, and most recently stop motion/ live action horror film Stopmotion (2023). The film to hand is competently enough scoped, with none of the dodgy editing of Target Eve Island - though the whole thing is very high with 80’s camp, and it features terrible post-film recording/voice acting
The film centres around the making of Thunderflash, which looks like it’s a James Bond rip-off, with a rocket-firing car called Stricker. Though you only get to see brief footage of the film within the film, and not really enough to gauge/ understand the plot.
Directing Thunderflash is cigar-chomping Wolf Sevenson (Cliff), and just as we open up, we see him firing off the two original leads for being flat/undynamic, as he goes through their scenes/ stunts to show how it should be done.
Next, Wolf is on the phone to his moustached and greased-back-haired gangster acquaintance Gino Veradi(Max Beesley Snr)-asking him to finance the film. But there’s one condition to getting Mr Veradi’s money- he choose his lead, which is his present girlfriend/ Wolf’s ex Jane(Fiona Fullerton).
Jane selects blond, tanned and leisure-suited Brett( Brett Sinclair) as the male lead, and filming gets underway. Though at around the hour mark, seemingly( off-screen/unseen), murder is brought into the mix.
It’s fair to say that The Ibiza Connection is extremely high in 80s camp and cheese. The first hour or so is dotted with a few punches up and multiple people getting thrown in the pool. We also get taken on holiday shots of the hotel and their animation team. But the most entertaining moments in the main body of the film are firstly, two or three extreme cheesy romantic montages- played over by ropy/ low rent euro pop balladry. And secondly, the mix of clipped macho dialogue, and the interaction between Verad/ his goons (including a must be over seven feet tall gent) and Wolf.
The last half an hour of the film is when we get more action, with smashing up a room fist fight, dodgy-looking boat-bound gun fights, a rope-looking meant to be large rocket, and the Stricker car launching its two rockets.
Acting-wise Cliff is fine, maybe not having as many amusing macho lines in the past, but I must say the further I get into the box set, the more I’m enjoying his ‘acting’, yes, he’s not terribly dynamic, his delivery is often clipped/monotone- but there is no doubt he had a screen presence. Otherwise, Fullerton isn’t as bad as our female lead, and she went on to be in the Bond film A View to A Kill. Sinclair is just really a handsome, tanned face, and not much more. Beesley Snr really hams it up as the gangster.
However, the most noticeable element of the whole thing is the post-dubbing; the dialogue is either clearly recorded in a normal room or the actors' voices sound ridiculous at times, almost cartoon-like. The worst dubbing is for the extremely clichéd gay character, who often sounds like either Chip or Dale recorded from the other end of a room.
The Ibiza Connection is another entertaining, if highly cheesy & camp 80’s ride- I guess there could have been more action in the main body of the film, but it was great to have a good and even dose of Mr Twemlow.
For The Ibiza Connection extras-wise, we get a commentary track from director Howard Arundel and cult movie historian David Flint- I’d say this is the most fascinating/ interesting of all the tracks, as Arundel was literally thrown into the job. They begin by talking about how he was rung up by Cliff, as he had been involved in a low-budget Manchester film called Gunpowder. He invites him to one of his parties, where he asked him to be his assistant on the film, but when they got to Ibiza, it was clear he was going to the director of the film, which had a six-week shoot schedule- he was twenty-five, and this was his first time directing anything. We find out he never saw a script for the film, and that the crew were all Spanish- he didn’t speak the language. They discuss what Ibiza was like in the early 80s, and apparently it wasn’t the party island it is now- though it was still fairly lively- with Arundel relating stories of near-nude women walking down the street, and a wrap party that didn’t end until 4 am. Later on, they talk about how they couldn’t make a film like this today, as they literally just set up & shot. They talk about how Cliff was a jack of all trades- though he spread himself too thinly, he was a terrible businessman, but he had the gift of the gab to convince people into doing films.
Otherwise, we have Brett Sinclair's home Video( one hour & six minutes) this starts at the airport with Brett and a few members of the cast & crew setting off. Before giving us a great blend of behind-the-scenes footage, and general clown about/ hang around.
Disc four features two films- The African Run, and Moonstalker. The African Run is from 1985, but really it’s mostly from 1982- as it’s largely a re-cut version of Tuxedo Warrior- with a few new scenes, and unused scenes from Tuxedo Warrior. So basically, we get 80% of already released stuff, 15% of new, and 5% unused.
I’d say if I hadn’t seen Tuxedo Warrior, I would have enjoyed this more, as it definitely flows better, and we do get more Cliff, which is never a bad thing. So basically the new stuff consists of the opening scene, where a suited Cliff( who looks like a spit for younger Donald Trump here), speaks in a tough guy whisper and he has a magnum, so of course he’s very much aping the Dirty Harry character. There’s also a neat card game- where Cliff( and his tough guy whisperer) beats up his fellow players, and a few awkward/cringeworthy moments of talking with a woman in a bedroom.
I went into The African Run not knowing that it was basically re-cut/ added to Tuxedo Warrior- as you can imagine, I was more than a little surprised when I realised, but there’s no doubt it improves the original, with improvements done on the score, it’s editing, and of course the new/ unseen scenes.
For this film, we get the following extras. Scene Breakdowns (12.24) Compilation Of New Scenes With Detailed Production/Location Notes. Alternate Credits Sequence ( 4.53), which has a James Bond/ Tales Of The Unexpected quality to them. David Ball test(2.49)
Moonstalker ( aka Predator: The Quietus) is from 1988. And I guess you’d say it’s a blend of mystery, UK village comedy drama, and creature feature with touches of folk Horror and Action.
It was directed by Leslie McCarthy, who has only one credit to his name a twenty-nine-minute documentary, Knots Berry Farm (1984), which looked at the history of California theme park. The film screenplay was co-written by McCarthy and Twemlow.
The just over one and a half hour film is filmed, acted, and put together relatively well- aside from a few random scenes, which feel like they were stuck on to top up the runtime. Though I’m afraid to say, for the most part, the film is just rather flat/bland- stealing ideas from much better films, to regurgitate them in a largely uninspired manner.
In the film, Cliff plays Daniel Kane, a mean, moody, and doesn’t say much big game hunter. He travels from NYC with blond/ keen to get her story, journalist Kelly(Cordelia Roche), to Dartmoor in the UK, where several courting couples have been attacked/ killed by something large & clawed.
The pair touch down in Blighty- making their way to the countryside, here they meet not eager to help cops, a mid-thirties woodland hermit, a pair of highly clichéd meant funny Irish drinking buddies, and a few others.
We open in the UK countryside at nighttime, where a young courting couple have pulled up to get it on…she pushes him away, insisting they go to the wishing tree. They make it to the old twisted tree- placing their hands on it, but all of a sudden, there is a beastly growl, human screams, and blood splattering lashes the tree.
As it unfolds from here, we get a fairly even mix of trying to find out what’s killing folks, mystery, comedy./drama, with action/horror appearing in its last half an hour. The former features a few punch-ups and some macho gunplay. The latter is largely seen off-screen, and when our monster appears, it does look decidedly crappy, looking like a very cheap take on Raw Head Rex. Cliff is just fine in the film, though he doesn’t get many lines- I’d say the most memorable scene is where Cliff is fighting with the beast, and how they are deliberately trying not to shoot the beast as they know it looks so bad.
In the end, Moonstalker is just a rather bland mystery/ light horror mix, with nothing really to make it stand out from a lot of other similar films, with not even the bad -there- great elements here to pull you in.
For Moonstalker, we have the following extras. We have a commentary track with actor Brian Sterling-Vete and cult movie historian David Flint. They begin by talking about the classic horror film opening scene, and comment on how well it was shot- we find out it was an early film shot by David Tattersall, the cinematographer who went on to work on the likes of The Green Mile & Die Another Day. We find out this film was shot on film, not video, like many of Cliff’s films. They discuss Manchester dressed up as NYC early scenes, and say these go on a tad too long. They touch on the Beast of Exmoor, which, during the time of filming, was often reported to have been sighted. We find out that Cliff was paranoid/ fearful of the Masons- always worrying they were trying to stop production. They comment on the film's location- none of course, which is anywhere near Exmoor. They touch on the Cliff horror films that never got made- The Beast Of Kane & The Pike. Later on, Sterling-Vete declares he worked on the film for a year- he never got to see a penny. And touch on the comedy characters- another interesting track.
Otherwise, we have: Alternate Credits Sequence ( 7.30), Trailer ( 2.42), The Blind Side Of God promo( 4.56), which was a never-completed revenge thriller, where Cliff, under the name of Johny Zero, tracks down a gang of paedophiles who kidnapped his daughter. Harrising Moments (5.49) this takes in a few sketches with actor/ comedian Jerry Harris- including Cliff in a few roles- as a sailer at a bar & man in nappies.
Disc five features another two films- The Hit Man and The Eye Of Satan- and both are directed by David Kent-Watson. The first, as its name might suggest, is an assassin action thriller, and the second is a horror action film.
So first up, we have The Hit Man (The Assassinator) from 1987, and I’d say it’s one of the more seriously toned films on this set- aside from some of the more wooden acting, and some of the misplaced/mood-unfitting cues.
The film focuses on Chris McCall- played by the moustached and tall John Saint Ryan, who appeared in G.B.H and Target Eve Island, as well as forty-plus roles in various TV and film roles. On the surface, he’s a family man working for the government, but in reality, he’s a Hit Man, getting paid by an organisation called The Office.
Early in the film, he does two different hits, one in London Chinatown ( with the brief but great footage of Soho), and in a car dealership with a poison dart fired from a car's exhaust. After these, he decides he’s going to call it a day, but the posh-yet-shadowy Mr Stuart, played by British bit part actor Ronald Lacey, who I guess is best known as the Gasspo who gets his face melted off in Raiders Of The Lost Arc.
The film starts off in the UK, but in its last hour shifts to Malta- Cliff turns up in a few lines goon role, he also gets in a few fights. Ryan is pretty good as the hitman who wants to quit. Action-wise, we get the already mentioned assassinations, which are scoped/ set up well enough. A few fist fights, nighttime gunplay, and a few effective kill shots- both from guns and crossbows. The plot has some decent enough twists and turns. All in all, The Hit Man is an engaging/ well put together action thriller.
Extras-wise, for this film, we just get alternative credits( 4.08), and trailer (3.19)
Next is The Eye Of Satan- this has a decidedly pulp feel, with its mixing of arms dealers, gangsters, cops, and a glowing green-eyed mercenary.
The one hour nineteen minute film kicks off with a bang- as the mulleted & all in black Kane(Twemlow) bursts into a funeral, knocks down the priest, then proceeds to shoot up the coffin. Directly after this, a man staggers into a frosty night- he’s bubbling about the Eye Of Satan, we get a flashback to a voodoo ceremony with a naked black woman stretched out, and a glowing red jewel, which we presume is the eye of Satan, and all of this is in the first five minutes.
As we get into the film, we find out about an army's deal gone wrong, and folks end up dead with broken necks & arms courtesy of Kane. Investigating both are two cops: the blunt/ at times hot-tempered Chief Inspector Pete Chase (Max Beesley Sr.) and the more laid-back, eating junk food/ drinking on the job Sgt. Peters(Brett Sinclair). Added in the mix, we have love interest Christine(Ginette Gray) who ends up been protected by Kane in his mansion, which houses his pet Panther, a ceremonial room, and his pentagram embossed robes.
This film is a hell of a lot of fun, with its mixing of punch-ups, tough guy posing, glowing green-eyed horror tropes, and the rapid/ if at times erratically edited unfold. Unlike some of the films on this set, which look at the better shot/high-end of SOV, this one looks very cheap, and all the better for it. It may not be an all-out/ total horror film, but it’s the closest Cliff got to it, and it’s bloody brilliant.
For this film, extra wise we have deleted scenes ( 10.28), Bloopers ( 2.10), and trailer.
Disc six takes in two films from 1989- one feature-length, Firestar: First Contact, and Tokyo Sunset, which is twenty-plus minutes of footage of a part-made film.
Firestar: First Contact is once again directed by David Kent-Watson, with Cliff writing the script. It features two known names: Oliver Tobias as an unsmiling, gum-chewing starship captain, and Charles Grey as a rather pompous/ often uptight commodore. Though both have fairly brief roles, and the main cast is made up of Twemlow regulars.
I guess you say the film is somewhat of an Alien clone with belligerent/ladies' man security officer John D Tropper(Cliff), going on two separate spaceship trips- one where they gun down an attacking alien craft, and another where they go back to try & see what’s left of it.
A few notable/memorable elements come in the form of talking back/ mocking Cliff’s sexual prowess wardrobe computer. Mouth & teeth In hand alien- who carries out a few neat attacks, like a bloody bath attack, and a hand right through stomach attack.
Cliff is in fine form here, though somewhat misogynistic with bottom slappings and making crude comments to the female members of the crew. The first half tries to vary a bit from Alien’s plot structure, though in the second, it is always beat by beat retake on Alien. The spaceship/ space effects look more like late 70’s, than late 80’s, but I guess you can’t expect more. Really, Firestar: First Contact is what you’d expect a Cliff sci-fi film/ alien rip-off to be.
The other film/ part of a film is Tokyo Sunset( 22.27)- it opens with a short introduction with Brian Sterling-Vete, where he shows us the surviving rushes/script, and then we drop into the short/ part film, which has been given proper credits/ nicely edited together by the folks at Severin. It opens with a basement scene- where Cliff, named here Johny Zero is wearing shades, and carrying a huge Rambo-like gun- he shoots four or so balky squibb wrapped characters. After this, he’s given the job of looking after a rather stroppy model played by Ginette Gray, who had already appeared in a few of his films. He has to be her bodyguard in Japan, where she’s going to an advert for a new drink with narcotic properties called Tokyo Sunshine. All that was shot/ remains of the rest of the film is the pair bickering at a rolling green hills set safe house, a warehouse punch up, and an explosion-filled finale. Real pity it never got completed- as what is here is great, with lots of amusing macho banter, and cheesy/ but entertaining action elements.
There’s a making of ( 8.47) which features an interview with Ginette Gray, Brian Sterling-Vete, and few members of the crew. This was most interesting/ entertaining. There’s two short promos for the film, and out takes.
Disc seven takes in Cliff’s final feature-length film, 1991’s G.B.H. 2: Lethal Impact( aka G.B.H. 2: Beyond Vengeance), which, as its title suggests, is a sequel to Cliff’s most well-known/ notable film G.B.H., and sees the return of tough-take-prisoners bouncer character Donovan. Plus, we get Cliff’s final short film, Bad Weekend
On the disc, we find two versions of the film: a pre-release ninety-nine-minute version, and a 110-minute special edition. Like a few of the films on this set, I’m not sure if it got a formal release- and if that’s the case, it’s a great pity, as it’s largely an entertaining/ engaging film, with some quite brutal violence along its length.
The film finds Donovan living in Malta, and when we first meet him he’s clearly burning the candle at both ends- as he wakes up bleary-eyed & surrounded by bottles. He staggers out into the sun, and fairly soon, who should pop up- his arch enemy from the first film, Keller(Jerry Harris), who informs him that his niece has been raped and murdered back in Manchester, where a gang are trawling the streets to pick up young girls to use in violent paedophilic porn.
From the off, the film features a nasty hand stabbing, and as we move on there are plenty of bloody punch-ups, hands & heads lopped off, and a few nasty gun shots to the head- so it’s easily the most violently extreme of the Cliff films.
It’s also great to see Cliff bringing back the Donovan character- who still seems as tough as ever, though we get to see a more emotional side of the big man in a few scenes that just stay on the right side of mawkish. One particular memorable/ cool scene is where we see him been driving through nighttime Manchester, as he talks about the city being like hell- as the original score plays
Aside from Jerry Harris, there are a few other notable actors from past Cliff films- like Brett Sinclair, who returns as his bouncer buddy Chris. For the most part, the film's great, and we even get a few new faces in the mix- in particular, there’s a younger man with a blond mullet who does some great martial arts fighting, both in a white tuxedo and in a tracksuit.
I’d say the only real criticism is the overuse of flashbacks to the first film- these are done in monochrome over fixed scenes in the new film. It’s difficult to fully make out what is going on, and like all flashbacks, they last way too long.
I’ll have to admit I was rather sad when I came to the end of the film, this being Cliff's last film and all. But he went out on a high, with many of his friends around him. It’d be great/nice to see Severin release the first G.B.H. and this film as a stand-alone double bill.
The second film on this disc is Bad Weekend, which is from the year 1992. It runs at just over forty-one minutes, though the last five or so are bloopers/ the cast/ crew packing. In the film, Cliff’s character is called Hawk, and he leads a band of modern Robin Hoods/ serial killers who prey on anyone who comes into their woods. It’s fine, if maybe a little one-dimensional in its plotting/ structure- we get a lot of Cliff regulars turn up in the film. There’s bow & arrow kills, a rather dodgy/ if tame rapes of an underage girl scene, and a line of crude/ toilet humour.
The final Blu-ray discs take in Cliff’s final appearances. We have 1992’s Fitness For The Over Forties( 55.06), which, as it suggests, is a get-fit doc- Cliff turns in a few scenes doing his stuff in the gym. All in all, it’s a one-watch/completists title- unless of course you are over forty and want to get fit in the gym.
Then Art Of Nude Massage(45.30), and again, it pretty much does what it says on the box. Cliff turns up as the first to be massaged/ then he massages a woman. Again, another one-watch/ completists title.
The final disc in the set is the CD- this features twenty-one tracks penned by Cliff, and it really highlights his scope/ ability as a songwriter. The disc is entitled The Peter Reno Tapes, which is named after one of cliff's pseudonyms. It features twenty-one tracks- fourteen are seemingly standard/non-film used songs he wrote, then the remaining seven tracks are from cues/ songs from films featured on this set. Sadly, there isn’t really any detail about the origin of the first batch of tracks, and scant information on the second batch- so that would be one small criticism of the set. Anyway, the first part of the CD moves from the wow-wow guitar, groovy flute piping, and general funky instrumental flow of “Hard Crust”. We have the dramatic/ brooding “The Bomb” with its orchestrated horn swoon, simmering guitar, and marching percussion. And there is the jiving-organ-led rock groove and wailing male vocals of “Heading Back To Memphis”. From film tracks, part of the CD, we move from the pulsing synth, dramatic guitar tones, and synth orchestration stab lined “Action 1”. Onto the cheesy & easy listening based soul-fullness/ sub James Bond theme song vibe of “Johny Zero Theme”. Though to the strut guitars, funky groove, pumping horns and powerful female vocals of “Mancunian Man Vocal”
In finishing Bloody Legend, is another gold standard box set from Severin/ InterVision. If you have any interest in low-budget action/ cult film, SOV, or micro-budget film production, this is a must.